Category Archives: Travel

Whistling through the spokes.

Posted on by
Reply

10°C, strong W, gusts to 45mph.

Cycling (twice) and indoor climbing.

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/3329530504

Two rides today. One at dawn, the other at dusk. Both dry and very windy. No less fun though; at times, the road speed dipped so I did some sprints after the 10 miles warmup.

In-between, I took the kids climbing. They did some Grade 4 and 5s on the auto-belay. I haven’t used one before and found them less easy to trust than a person on belay. There is no speed control when abseiling back down. The device works like an inertia-reel seatbelt. The speed it releases is fixed, a little faster than my taste (and my inexperience).
I felt so rusty too, even my grip was marginal at times! Now, where is that grip exerciser thing? Also, I needed a refresher on rope handling, which came back very quickly. Next time, I will go by myself and hire shoes and consider buying a pair.

This morning’s outing included a severe buffeting by wind which at times whistled through the spokes. Deep section rims are a problem in strong cross-winds, there is a lot of correction to random steering shifts. On the Mustang bike, the rims are even deeper than the ones the fixed gear bike has.

My hopes for cycling this year are to develop stamina as good as 10 years ago. Coverall, a satisfying day.

The fizz is back

Posted on by
Reply

8°C, light grey with minimal breeze NW. Dry too.

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/3327217420

Okay, not very fast but the important point is – it felt right.

It’s funny how you can actually feel warmth at 8°C after days near to freezing. Some of this is the benefit of acclimatisation, some is not running the heating at home too high. I’m sure that people who live in hot houses feel cold more when outside.

Sunset was just, just perceptibly later today.

It can only get better

Posted on by
Reply

8°C, light W, dull and dry.

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/3317449414

January is possibly the most miserable month of the year, but things can only get better. January is in competition with December, mainly because December contains the detestable Christmas stress fest.

Anyway, today I dragged out the fixie, dragged it over to the coast by dragging round the cranks. That wasn’t an easy ride despite the distance.

For all these decades of cycling, I’ve had a rule of thumb for warm-ups. It usually takes me 8 miles or half an hour to warm-up, whichever comes first.
After that stage, everything loosens up and I can ride all day. In previous years, when I rode long rides more often, there seemed to be another threshold too. Two hours in is usually a good time to take a break, maybe have a snack or even a cafe stop. The next stage could be really long, taking up to 70 or even as much as 90 miles. It was this phase that average speed was highest. Today was not a day like that.

Today, that threshold didn’t really pass. I decided after 10 miles, to ride home.

Gloomy on the bike

Posted on by
Reply

3°C still, grey, dry and cold

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/3314266726

Everything I hate about january was found today. The worst feature was the dark, the day never really broke out of twilight all day.
At least the bike was good though the front mudguard gummed up with black mud. There may be room to adjust the stays. Dry mud is worse as it doesn’t wash out so easily.

Anyway, that’s the first ride of the year on the Arrow which is now regarded as a winter bike. It lay in storage last winter while I bought a house so there are minor faults from 2 years ago that I’d forgotten about. The chain is too short and a few other minors like the mudguard rubbing.

I have an idea for a change of handlebars too. The gravel bike can have new flared bars and its bars can refit onto the Arrow.

Major Chestikov.

Posted on by
Reply

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/3294022513

Ill again. It started during this ride home from work. Shame because I was looking forward to it. The route that runs along farm tracks in the dark is quite an experience. If it wasn’t for the rain, it would have been a photo opportunity.

Was it worse because of the rain? Maybe, and getting cold at the end. The worst came after I got home. When it came to putting the bike away, the sky opened with a deluge. Anyway two nights followed with hot and cold flushes, no strength and a hacking brittle cough. The annoying bit is the brief time since the last heavy cold.

Five days later, I’m still laid up in bed. The cough remains as do the hot & cold flushes. This is definitely influenza.

13 days later, it’s just about gone

Angry in the letters page.

Posted on by
Reply

A letter to my local paper:

“Whilst I can sympathise with letter writer Michael Swann’s plea for cars (#1a) to consider cyclists when they are coming out of side roads, can I ask him and other cyclists to also take some responsibility when they are on the road?

Several issues spring to mind but my main frustration is the fact that extremely few cyclists have mirrors on their handlebars. Years ago, a cyclist would not think of going on the road without one on either side.

How else can you see when you are contemplating moving out? #2

The responsibility for taking care in is situation appears to rest solely on the shoulders of the car driver.

Another annoyance are those cyclists that ride on a main road when there are clearly marked cycle paths next to the road. This frequently happens on the coastal road travelling toward the Formby Bypass. #3

Can I also ask the many cyclists who go straight through red lights to please follow the Highway Code? It applies to you too! #4

Catherine Marland, Southport

________________

#1a: cars don’t think.

#1/ I am old enough to remember kids proudly riding Raleigh Choppers which actually did come with 2 handlebar mirrors. They were trying to look like motorbikes. Nobody else used mirrors on a bike, there was never a time when mirrors were the norm for cyclists.

Personally, I’d never trust the narrow view from such a tiny porthole that a bike mirror provides. I don’t use a mirror because I value my safety.

#2: For those few who don’t know, mirrors are rarely fitted because there is a far more effective method – look over your shoulder! I can’t tell why Catherine didn’t think of that.

Most of us have a neck with 12 vertebrae which is a biological feature that allows us to turn our heads.

#3 that particular track is very narrow and lumpy there is no passing space for incoming bikes. Imagine driving on a single-track lane but without any passing spaces!

#4 just like car drivers always do?

I never jump red lights but there are many who assume we all do. Those assumptions are wrong.

You specify cyclist who go straight through red lights; presumably you accept those who turn left on a red light (as done legally in the USA).

Metric century.

Posted on by
Reply

5~7°C, grey, dank and a S breeze

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/328970721

Slow but long. 4h 40′ and the headlight lasted (though the orange warning light came on). Better still, the phone’s battery (a Motorola g6) ran down to 87%. My old phone (a Samsung S3) could run flat in less than 3 hours and I had to carry a booster at all times.

A good outing. Good figures and a good feeling afterwards. There was a time when a metric century was the normal for a Sunday ride.

Commute: moonlight, windswept and cold.

Posted on by
Reply

5°C, strong SE, dry and clear, moonlight

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/3285512167

I love it, the blackness and a probing circle of light to ride into. Potholes and ripples in the tarmac are in sharp relief in the headlight. Either side, wet fields and distant streetlights. This is such a nice route. Nobody in sight and a light tailwind. I got home with hunger setting in and cold fingertips.

Was it a good ride?

Posted on by
5

…not really.

11°C, W wind with clear sky. Dry of course.

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/3281311537
Broken valve.

Not the ride I wanted. The canal section was spoiled by a fishing competition and then a puncture. The self-sealing tubes failed to seal the leak. I blew the tyre up and rode as far as the pressure allowed and then inflated it again. Eventually the valve broke off inside the pump (see above). That stopped everything; no longer was there a possibility of swapping the tube or patching because there was no way to pump it up. The walk home was 2 miles. The sun shone.